Ocosta is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
and
Census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
in
Grays Harbor County, in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
.
History
The town, originally called Ocosta-by-the-sea, was the product of a disagreement between Aberdeen, WA and the Northern Pacific Railroad. In those days, it was common for the NP to accept a cash incentive from a town that wished to connect to the system. Aberdeen refused to pay, and the NP established the town in an attempt to bypass the city.
The town was reached in 1892; however, Ocosta's harbor was found to be unsuitable, and the NP instead struck a deal with Aberdeen to build a spur into the city. When the 1893 financial panic occurred, the Northern Pacific ultimately halted progress, and the city of Aberdeen finished the spur, using rails from a sunken barque.
A post office called Ocosta was established in 1890, and remained in operation until 1943. The community was named for the nearby ocean coast. The ZIP Code for Ocosta is 98520.
References
Unincorporated communities in Grays Harbor County, Washington
Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)
{{GraysHarborCountyWA-geo-stub